A couple months ago, I was approached by my friends at the Palmetto Software Group to brew a beer for their company holiday party/customer appreciation gifts/general consumption. After an evening to tasting a variety of beers at Barley’s they settled on a stout.

But not just any stout. They wanted 20 gallons, so we had the option of adding a variety of flavors to the four 5-gallon carboys during secondary fermentation. We opted on one regular stout, one coffee, one chocolate, and one bourbon oak.

Now that the beer is finally ready, I brought the coffee variety to the Upstate Brewtopians meeting this past Saturday. It was greeted with an extremely position response, and I actually took home the honor of winning the beer-pendant-trophy thing.

The coffee stout was voted best among 20 entrants in the open competition, so I am very honored and proud of my beer. It’s the first award of any kind I’ve won for my homebrew.

The coffee stout was jet black with a very apparent coffee aroma. The coffee flavor was right on, not overpowering or harsh. I used a cold extraction technique to add the coffee to secondary, and I think it worked very well. I describe the steps for the cold extraction below.

What I found most intriguing about it was the additional flavors I tasted in the beer. It was nutty and chocolatey, and I even tasted some vanilla. Despite the high IBU, I didn’t get much in the way of hops or bitterness. The malt and coffee were well-balanced with the hops.

The body and mouthfeel were solid for a stout. Not nearly as thick as my mythical Troll’s Blood (more on that in the coming days), but substantial and satisfying. In the past I’ve had trouble with thin stouts, but I think I’ve found the cure: more grain. Don’t be scared.

I do believe this is one of my best efforts to date. Good flavor, good body, and everything was in balance. I hope PSG and their associates enjoy it as much as I do.